Your chicks are growing at a breakneck pace! You’ve been giving them chick starter every day, changing their water, and remembering to give them vitamins. You started with a temperature of 95 degrees and are gradually lowering it by 5 degrees each week. At this point, you should be able to distinguish the difference between your hens and your roosters. The roosters’ combs will become more prominent, they will grow in size, and their tail feathers may become longer. You can usually tell who they are by their personalities, as they are often more aggressive towards the other birds. It’s possible you have to relocate them from their beginning cardboard box to a larger brooder. After a few weeks, they’ll require half a square foot of area per bird. They’ll be ready to meet the wide outdoors in no time.
Problems:
Stress has a significant impact on a woman’s health and can lead to a compromised immune system, which can lead to a slew of additional issues. Being excessively hot or cold, dehydration, malnutrition, or being overly handled are all common stresses.
A thermometer is essential for keeping track of the temperature in the brooder. Another approach to figure it out is to observe your chicks’ behaviour. They’re too chilly if they’re chirping loudly or huddling behind the heat lamp. They’re probably too hot if they’re chirping loudly or avoiding the heat lamp like the plague. If the chicks are too chilly, they may suffocate. This occurs because they might pack together in an attempt to stay warm, but they could crush and smother those in the middle or at the bottom.
Coccidia is a protozoa that resides in chickens’ digestive systems and is deposited in the brooder through excrement. The protozoa irritate the gut lining, preventing nutrients from being absorbed. In roughly 14 weeks, birds will develop natural tolerance to the protozoa. Chicks can swallow more coccidia than their intestines can tolerate in the natural course of their lives via excrement in the litter or in the water. It’s critical to maintain the litter and water clean and clear of excrement! Coccidiosis begins with a runny, off-colored, or bloody stool and poor development. It has the potential to be deadly. Medicated feed is indicated since harm is typically done before symptoms appear, and an injured bird may never flourish or be as productive as unaffected birds.
Pasty-butt: A loose stool can also be caused by stress. Pasty butt is prevalent in the first few weeks owing to shipping stress, but it may occur at any time and be induced by any stressor. If the faeces is watery, it may adhere to the down feathers beneath the vent. If it is allowed to build up, it might block the vent, making the chick unable to excrete. The chick may get poisonous and die if not addressed. If you observe excrement accumulating, wipe the surface with a moist paper towel. Only get wet as much as you need to (chills are terrible, too), and then return to the warmth of the brooder as quickly as possible.
Picking: Chicks will sometimes peck each other as a result of overpopulation, overheating, or other forms of stress. They may pick at their roommates’ toes or other body parts. It’s tough to quit a habit once it’s started. A red heat lamp can be used to avoid this. Because of the red, the chicks have a harder time picking out visual distinctions that may draw their interest.